Advanced additive manufacturing and printing technologies for dental applications: a narrative review

The demand for dental prostheses continues to rise, driven by the importance of maintaining oral health. However, traditional manufacturing techniques face significant limitations, including labor-intensive workflows, prolonged customization times, limited material options, human error, poor fit accuracy, high costs, and suboptimal biocompatibility. Additive manufacturing (AM) has emerged as a transformative solution, offering enhanced precision, cost-effectiveness, and the ability to produce personalized prosthetic devices. These technologies now enable the fabrication of customized surgical guides, orthodontic appliances, drug-delivery mouthguards, crowns, bridges, and dental implants. Furthermore, 4D bioprinting introduces dynamic, adaptive materials that perform effectively in the oral environment. This narrative review adopts a comprehensive approach by examining three key aspects of additive manufacturing for dental applications: material selection, design factors, and manufacturing techniques. It also explores recent advancements in dental 3D and 4D printing for specific clinical applications, with particular emphasis on bioprinting and biomaterials. The review discusses the fabrication of dental prostheses, including crowns, bridges, dentures, and surgical instruments. In addition, it addresses current challenges in implant design, highlights the importance of selecting materials compatible with various printing technologies, and outlines future research directions in this rapidly evolving field. Covering developments from the past twenty years, this review aims to provide a holistic perspective on the use of additive manufacturing in dentistry, emphasizing key advancements, influential factors, and existing limitations.